Comparing Machiavellis The Prince and Platos The Republic Essay

Comparing Machiavellis The Prince and Platos The Republic Many people in history waste written about ideal rulers and states and how to restrain them. Perhaps the most talked about and compared are Machiavellis, The Prince and Platos, The Republic. Machiavelli lived at a time when Italy was suffering from its political destruction. The Prince, was written to distinguish the ways by which a leader may gain and maintain power. In Plato?s The Republic, he unravels the definition of justice. Plato believed that a ruler could non be wholly just unless one was in a society that was also just. His state and ruler was made up to better understand the meaning of justice. It was not intended to be practiced like that of Machiavellis. Machiavelli, acknowledging this, explains that it is his intention to write something that is true and authoritative and useful to whoever might read it and not something imaginary,?for many have project republics and principalities which in fact have neve r been known or seen?(Machiavelli 375). Therefore, because one ruler is realistic and the other imaginary, the characteristics of Machiavellis ruler versus Platos ruler are distinctly different. Machiavelli?s model for his ideal prince was Cesare Borgia, also known as Duke Valentino and son of Pope Alexander VI. He believed Cesare Borgia possessed all the qualities of a prince destined to rule and maintain power in his state. He believed that politics has a morality of its own. There is no regard of justness or unjustness, of cruelty or mercy, of approval or humiliation, which should interfere with the decision of defending the state and preserving its freedom. Therefore, the ruler/princes single responsibilit... ...ddle with each other (Plato 99).? In The Prince, Machiavelli was addressing a monarchical ruler and offering advice designed to discover that ruler in power. He felt that Cesare Borgia was model for the perfect prince. He was able to give actual examples of how princ es during his time ruled and how they failed or succeeded in doing so. Plato, in contrast was perhaps unrealistic. His ruler and state could only be used to better understand the meaning of justice. It could never be practiced in real life because he neglects the fact that everyone sins and fails to mention this in his ideal ruler and state. Works Cited 1) Marra, James L., Zelnick, Stephen C., and Mattson, Mark T. IH 51 Source Book Plato, The Republic, pp. 77-106 2) Nicole Machiavelli, The Prince, pp. 359-386. Kendall/Hunt issue Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 1998.